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Posted: January 21, 2021

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By Danielle

I‘m a health and wellness blogger from Ireland. Through personal struggle, I discovered balance and purpose in my life by incorporating meditation, yoga & pilates, journaling, and healthy eating! My path to self-discovery ignited a passion to share what I’ve learned and create a community of like-minded individuals searching for balance in this chaotic world!

5 Simple Ways To Organize Your Life

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“Organize your space, organize your mind”

I was never the most organized kid growing up. Although I certainly aspired to be, I got jealous of those neat, routined girls in school who really had their sheeet together.

My calendar was always crammed with sports and activities. I rarely slowed down and when I did, the last thing I wanted to do was organize.

But teaching in Vietnam for a year taught me the importance of structure. I had 4 classes of 30 students that I would see bi-weekly for science & maths. That was a lot of handouts and homework! I quickly learned that being unorganized was not an option.

Incorporating these five habits into my life has made organizing a lot easier, especially with my current busy schedule. It enables me to organize my time efficiently and prioritize tasks, all while having a tidy space!

Here are some tips to inspire you to build a more balanced, organized life!

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1. Daily Planner

I could not live without my beloved daily planner. At the end of every year, I invest in a beautiful, well-organized planner that I look forward to writing in each day! It’s important to start the year organized to avoid falling behind!

Although I try to be quite frugal with money, this is a necessary investment that I don’t mind splurging. I always make sure that I can see the inside of the planner if I buy it online.

Everybody has different preferences. I like A5-sized planners that have an hour-by-hour daily scheduler.

My boyfriend Alex, on the other hand, likes pocket planners. What is this? A planner for ants.

To get the full benefit, make writing in your planner a daily routine. For example, every morning I sit with my cup of coffee and plan the day ahead of me, hour-by-hour, in my beautiful planner.

I put the tasks that I’ve been putting off at the top of the list. That way, when you have those accomplished, you look forward to the rest of your tasks.

Recently, I began ticking off the accomplished tasks. I used to avoid the ticks to avoid ruining my pretty notes, but there’s something so satisfying about getting through your list, tick-by-tick! It’s crazy how a little tick can make you feel a lot better about your productivity levels, especially when you have a long list.

This was the exact planner I bought and I am obsessed!! Paperblanks have tonnes of beautiful diaries! 😁 You can also find them at Easons (where I purchased mine)

2. Less Stationery, More Order

Looking back, I can’t believe how much time I wasted in school by making my notes look as pretty as possible. It completely took me away from the most important matter at hand – class.

When you’re taking notes, use your favorite pen. We all have that one stunning pen that we love gliding over the paper! You know yours!

Then, when you are reading back over your notes, highlight the important takeaways with your favorite colored highlighter.

I think it’s fantastic to highlight or underline key points from the books I read or use sticky notes. Sticky notes are brilliant to organize your notes by category and they’re color-coded, which I honestly find quite pretty!

3. Make Your Bed Every Morning

You might wonder why something so simple is on this list, but it truly makes all the difference.

When you make your bed first thing in the morning, you’re beginning your day with completing a task. Then you’re more likely to want to continue being productive all day. It’s like a mental tick off your list of tasks to accomplish that day.

Your room looks much tidier when you organize it in the morning, and this is VITAL if you work in your bedroom. You’re likely to get more work done in a cleaner environment!

Making your bed can also inspire you to keep your bedroom tidy. Maybe you’ll even tackle that chair with all your clothes thrown on it after! I know you have one. We all do.

4. Promodoro Technique

We’re all guilty of sitting at the computer for hours, especially when you get that caffeine hit and are in FLOW.

But realistically, it’s just not good for you. Believe it or not, you’ll be more productive when you give your brain a small break (or two) every hour.

Try to bundle your tasks into categories. Get yourself a timer and commit to working on a single given task as long as that timer is ticking.

The technique recommends doing 25 minutes of work followed by 5 minutes of rest for each cycle. But you can also do 50 minutes of work followed by a 10-minute break. Do what works best for you!

Start by closing every distraction while you work on the task at hand. Close out of unrelated tabs, log out of social media, and turn your phone on airplane mode to avoid unnecessary distractions.

If you find yourself still getting distracted (by your pooch), train your mind to come back to the present – #mindfulness. This takes practice, but is worth the effort!

During your small break get up from your seat. Stretch your legs, go to the bathroom, get some water, make a coffee, or meditate.

This technique is a brilliant time-management skill invented back in the 1980s that will help you achieve a state of flow while working. The Promodoro technique helps you be more productive and use your time more efficiently.

5. Chore Day Once A Week

When you have a lot on your plate it is so easy to fall behind on your chores.

I know it can be hard to get that work-life balance. When you feel like you’re juggling too much and not spending enough time or energy on other important aspects of your life is tough.

I found it hard to get things done around the house because I was working constantly every day. And even if I took a few hours during the day to get something non-work related done, I felt guilty and was conscious about the work-time I was losing.

I would constantly neglect my necessary chores. But they were always there – building up, annoying me, never disappearing.

I decided to take one day a week to do all my chores and it has been the most brilliant thing. If you work Monday – Friday, dedicated one day during your weekend to complete all your “life jobs”.